Hero of the People
Snake-Eyes parachutes into Borovia, landing in the middle of an uprising. The resistance leader, Metz, is giving a speech on a toppled statue of Lenin as the Lower Borovian Security Police prepare to shoot him down. As they fire into the crowd, Snake-Eyes jumps in the window and kills them all. He tosses some of the bodies out the window, where they land in front of the crowd below. Metz and the Upper Borovian revolutionaries storm the building to "help" their mystery benefactor, but the police are all dead and the room is empty. In America, Scarlett is awake and asking for Snake-Eyes. The doctor tells her that her sister Sioban had him barred from the hospital when he tried to stop her from disconnecting Scarlett's life-support. Scarlett asks if this is true, and whether it was all about the family house in Atlanta. She tells Sioban that if she wanted it that badly, Scarlett would have signed it over to her, which sends Sioban crying from the room. When they land at Rhein-Main AFB in Frankfurt, Stalker and Storm Shadow are ambushed by Military Police armed with tranq darts. They're dragged back onto their plane, and General Crowther, one of the Jugglers, informs them that the U.S. government doesn't want George Strawhacker to come home, so they sent a freelance hitman after Snake-Eyes. In Borovia, the revolutionaries are attacking the Security Police headquarters, and in the crowd are The White Clown and Orlovsky the Dwarf. The'd hoped to find files revealing the fate of The White Clown's missing wife Magda, but if the rioters burn down the building, there will be no hope. Snake-Eyes, dressed in a trenchcoat and large hat, pushes past the pair, vaults over the barricade and dodges gunfire as he runs into the building. The White Clown recognizes the moves, and rushes behind to help Snake-Eyes. Reaching the records room, Snake-Eyes begins ransacking the files furiously. Metz arrives and congratulates the mysterious hero of the people. Snake-Eyes ignores him, and Metz orders the police taken downstairs to be shot. The White Clown says he can't do that, that it's just racism against the Lower Borovians, but Metz threatens him and leaves. Orlovsky finds the file they wanted, just as Snake-Eyes find his: both prisoners were taken to Gulag 23 near Pvnsk. As they exit the building, a young girl runs up to Snake-Eyes, pleading for the hero's help. Her father has been rounded up for execution, but he is innocent. She begs the hero for help, but Snake-Eyes ignores her and gets in Metz's car. Orlovski and the White Clown realize Snake-Eyes truly has changed, and the firing squad opens fire as the three drive away, leaving the girl crying in the street. Metz is unconcerned that his car has been stolen, and tells the revolutionaries to find him a limo. A man in a trenchcoat and large hat approaches Metz to warn him about his "hero" - a dead man is easier to use as a symbol than a live one. The man introduces himself as Major Bludd, and says perhaps they can come to an agreement that benefits them both. In Sierra Gordo, the team of Joes, Oktober Guards and Tucaros near the ridge that will get them away from Darklon's forces and into dense rain forest. Cresting the rise, they see the jungle is gone, replaced by a barren wasteland of nothing but stumps. |Appearing1= Featured Characters Featured Characters |MemorableQuotes1="We all know that Lower Borovians are too clannish, too educated and too sophisticated for their own good! They have an unfair advantage over simple working-class people like us!" :--'Metz' isn't the first politician to appeal to crowds of idiots by denouncing "elites," and he won't be the last. "He's going in there alone!" "Not alone. Follow him, Borovians! There goes your conscience and your pride! Will you stay here and watch... or will you rise up and be a part of your own history?" :--'Orlovsky' doesn't quite have The White Clown's talent for giving speeches. "They took your car, Metz." "They can have that piece of junk! I think it would be fitting for the people to show their appreciation to me by appropriating me a limo!" :--And so begins the corruption of Metz's new government. "Living heroes have a tendency to become idealistic after a revolution. They have no concept of the mundane practicalities of government. Dead heroes, on the other hand, are much more malleable." :--Why don't you write a little poem about it, Major Bludd? |Errors1=*On page 10, Hawk describes Snake-Eyes' mission - highly classified information that could conceivably jeopardize one of his best men, not to mention something he wouldn't want leaked to the press - in front of at least two civilian medical staff. (And if any Joe should know not to trust doctors in a situation like this it's Hawk, given the events of issue 17!) *Yes, there was some foreshadowing, but even so, how could the entire rainforest possibly get clear-cut so fast? |ItemsOfNote1=*'First appearances': Metz, Gen. Thurston Crowther (named) *Gen. Crowther is the current head of the Jugglers. *Several locations in Borovia are named: Lenin Square in Krogonsz and Gulag 23 near Pvnsk *The return of the White Clown and Orlovsky the Dwarf, and Major Bludd's first appearance in quite some time. *We see Snake-Eyes' new face quite clearly. He only has two small scars now, so why does he still wear the mask? **It's possible, even likely, that this is another mask, not his actual appearance. He certainly wouldn't want to advertise his presence on this mission. *Yet again the letters page teases the idea of a live-action G.I. Joe movie, this time from Warner Brothers. *There were rumours at the time that G.I. Joe was going to be cancelled. Many assumed the axe would've fallen with #100. It's possible the rumors were true and the book was on the way to cancellation, but the start of the first Gulf War made patriotism strong and interest in military fiction grew high, keeping the book alive for four more years. |RealWorldRefs1=*Stalker and Storm Shadow land at Rhein-Main AFB. |Footnotes= }} Category:G.I. Joe: The Best of Larry Hama Category:Sierra Gordo/Appearances